Healthy Living: Celiac awareness week

ThIS week is International Coeliac Awareness week, and according to the Coeliac Society of Ireland (www.coeliac.ie), one in every 100 people has the disease, but for each person diagnosed, there are likely to be 5-10 people who remain undiagnosed.

While Coeliac disease affects just 1% of the population, up to 13% are thought to have gluten intolerance. Gluten is a protein in wheat, rye, spelt, barley and in the vast majority of food products, but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, creams and lip balms.

Coeliac disease is both a disease of malabsorption — meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly — and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. When people with Coeliac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi — the tiny, finger-like protrusions lining the small intestine.

Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food they eat.

Coeliac disease is genetic, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered—or becomes active for the first time—after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress. It is also more common among people with other genetic disorders including Down syndrome and Turner syndrome, and a growing number of evidence suggests that there is a strong connection between autism spectrum disorders and Coeliac disease. Coeliac patients also tend to suffer from other autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or autoimmune thyroiditis.

Symptoms vary from person to person and do not always show up as a digestive disorder, therefore it often goes undiagnosed. Digestive discomforts are more common in infants and young children and the resulting malabsorption cause growth and developmental delays. Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms, but due to severe malabsorption the rest of the body systems would show deficiency symptoms, resulting in anaemia, osteoporosis, mouth ulcers, fatigue, anxiety, skin problems - just to name a few.

Researchers are studying the reasons Coeliac disease affects people differently. The length of time a person was breastfed, the age a person started eating gluten-containing foods, and the amount of gluten-containing foods one eats are three factors thought to play a role in when and how celiac disease appears. Some studies have shown, for example, that the longer a person was breastfed, the later the symptoms of Coeliac disease appear. Symptoms also vary depending on a person’s age and the degree of damage to the small intestine.

For Coeliac patients the only cure is strict avoidance of all gluten containing products, then restoration of the intestinal wall may be assisted with certain supplements.

It is easy to find out if you are Coeliac or have intolerance to gluten, wheat or other foods. Coeliac can be easily diagnosed; it involves a blood sample by your GP followed by a biopsy. For more information on gluten sensitivity and food intolerance testing options, visit my website: www.evahillnutrition.com